Page 18 of Hurting Hunter
Ethan leaned forward and whispered, "That sound reminds me of how you moaned this morning when you were stuffed full of my cock."
Hunter's dick twitched at the mention. "That, Sir, is quite an inappropriate comment to make in a public setting." Hunter tried a stern expression. "Let's keep our conversations appropriate, especially when we'reenjoying such delicious food."
Ethan grinned unrepentantly. "I love it when your face turns bright red like this. Do you truly want me to be more mindful of our surroundings or are you hard as a rock beneath the tablecloth?"
They paused their banter momentarily when the server appeared to collect their dishes.
Abandoning the sexualinnuendos, their conversationflowed whenthey spoke of the environment, both of them passionate about conservation and sustainability. They discovered a shared love for legal thrillers and pop music from theseventies, eighties, and nineties.Their discussion was filled with laughter and animated gestures.
"So." Ethan stared at him with vivid interest after the server brought them their main course. "How was your day?"
Hunter's smile faltered as he navigated around the specifics of his day with the ECO, choosing his words carefully to avoid revealing too much. "Just the usual club stuff, you know, keeping things running smoothly." His tone was light but his eyes avoided Ethan's gaze.
As Ethan listened to Hunter's vague description of his day, he couldn't help but arch an eyebrow. Now that's an evasive answer if I ever heard one, he thought, his attention lingering on Hunter with a mixture of curiosity and concern. He noticed the subtle shift in Hunter's demeanor, the way he went from being open and slightly bashful to shutting down completely, and how his expression closed off.
Disappointment formed a small knot in the pit of his stomach. He understood the vast distance between their worlds, the unspoken barriers that lay like landmines in their path. Part of him yearned to bridge that gap, to delve deeper into Hunter's life, but the rational part of his mind knew better. They were from different orbits, possibly even on opposite sides of a silent battle line, and the reality that they might be more like adversaries than lovers weighed heavily on him.
Despite his disappointment, Ethan recognized the need to tread carefully, to not push Hunter into a corner. With a soft sigh, he decided to steer the conversation away from the minefield of their daily lives and back to common ground.
"Hey, would you like to go to the cinema sometime?" Ethan asked, his tone light, despite the deeper thoughts he wrestled with. "Edge of the Storm is playing. I’ve heard it’s packed with action and danger—seems right up our alley."
His suggestion hung in the air, a peace offering and an invitation to retreat to safer territory, where the complexities of their lives could be momentarily forgotten in the shared darkness of a movie theater. As he waited for Hunter's response, Ethan hoped that this simple pleasure could give them a moment of respite, a slice of normalcy in the tangled web of their connection.
Chapter 14
Hunter's fingers danced across the keyboard in a rhythmic blur, the soft clacking barely audible over the progressive heavy metal playing. Lines of code scrolled down the monitor as he infiltrated the digital life of one more client in the trafficking ring, and his head bobbed up and down in time with the guitar riffs as his favorite song started. As he delved deeper into the encrypted files, a message popped up that made his stomach churn.
I need a new toy. Requirements: girl, preteen, virgin.
Hunter’s fingers paused, hovering above the keyboard as he absorbed the depraved request flashing on his screen. A visceral disgust twisted in his gut, his pulse accelerating with a mixture of anger and revulsion. His jaw clenched tight, the muscles in his neck tensing as if bracing against the wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm him. The warmth that usually filled him during a successful hack now turned to a searing heat of fury, his hands shaking as he fought to maintain control.
As he extracted more data, a sudden spike in the network's traffic caught his attention. His screen flickered momentarily, and Hunter recognized the signs of an external breach. Someone was trying to worm their way into his system, a silent battle of wits unfolding in the digital shadows.
With a swift series of keystrokes, Hunter initiated a counterattack, rerouting the intrusion through a maze of dummy nodes and encrypted firewalls. His brow furrowed as he monitored the intruder's movements, a game of cat and mouse playing out in lines of code and flashing cursors. He wasn't sure if his defenses would hold, the uncertainty making his heart race as he patched vulnerabilities and shored up his digital barriers.
The uncertainty of the situation gnawed at him, his mind racing through potential vulnerabilities in his network, pondering the consequences of a breach.
Knowing he needed to share this development, Hunter grabbed his jacket and headed to the clubhouse. The air was crisp as he rode through the city, the familiar roar of his Harley grounding him.
Hunter arrived at the clubhouse with a heavy stride, his entrance drawing immediate attention from Brick and Slate. Without any preamble, he dove into the details of the breach and the disturbing content he'd unearthed.
"Brick, Slate, we've got a problem," Hunter stated, his voice edged with the strain of his earlier discoveries. "Someone tried to hack into my system while I was documenting demands for trafficking. Also, these bastards are not just looking for anyone—they want children."
The room's atmosphere tightened like a drawn bow. Brick straightened, his demeanor shifting as he absorbed the gravity of Hunter's words. "First things first. Did they get in?"
"I think I managed to keep them out," Hunter replied. His throat felt tight.
Slate scratched his jaw, his brow furrowed in concern. "What's our move?"
Hunter's hands instinctively curled into fists at his sides, the urge for immediate action pulsing through him. "We need to ramp up our security, first off. And then, we hit back. We can't let this slide. They are using and abusing children. This sicko asked for a preteen." He swallowed as bile churned in his stomach.
Brick nodded, the lines of his face hardening. "Agreed. We play it smart, ramp up security, and prepare to move on these bastards. No one targets kids on our watch."
Hunter's gaze flicked between Brick and Slate, the solid certainty in their responses grounding him. "I'll dig deeper, see what else I can find. We need to shut this down before any more lives are ruined."
Hunter gave a solemn nod. The challenges ahead were daunting, but with the ECO behind him, they were not insurmountable. The disgust that had churned in his stomach now transformed into a steely determination. He would use every skill at his disposal to end this horror.
Later that night, Hunter sat hunched before his array of screens, the continuous scrolling data rolling across the monitors providing a monotonous backdrop to his deepening frustration.
